World Press Photo of the Year 2013

The Photo of the Year prize went to John Stanmeyer for this photo taken in Djibouti City, Djibouti, Feb. 26, 2013.

African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raise their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia—a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East.

Credit: John Stanmeyer/VII for National Geographic

1st Prize General News Single

Sofia, Bulgaria, Nov. 21, 2013

Military Ramp, an emergency refugee center, was opened in September 2013 in an abandoned school in Sofia, Bulgaria. The center provides housing for about 800 Syrian refugees, including 390 children. Bulgaria, already hard hit by the economic crisis and heightened political instability, is confronting a refugee crisis that appears to coincide with increased efforts by Greece to close off its border with Turkey. Bulgaria, however, is totally unprepared to face a refugee crisis.

Credit: Alessandro Penso/OnOff Picture

2nd Prize General News Stories

Central African Republic, Nov. 17, 2013

Demonstrators gather on a street in Bangui to call for the resignation of interim President Michel Djotodia following the murder of Judge Modeste Martineau Bria by members of Seleka. Bangui, Central African Republic.

The Central African Republic has seen more than its fair share of coups and unrest over the five and a half decades since its independence from France. The current crisis, however, triggered by yet another coup, is starting to set in position a well armed, mainly Muslim militia that is refusing to disarm against Anti-balaka, Christian vigilante groups defending the country's majority Christian population. The UN has warned of a potential slide into genocide and France has sent 1,600 troops to protect civilians and disarm the different militia. Bordering on other highly volatile regions in central Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Chad, the conflict is ringing alarm bells across the continent and beyond.

Credit: William Daniels/Panos Pictures for TIME

1st Prize Spot News Single

Tolosa, Philippines, Nov. 18, 2013

Survivors of typhoon Haiyan march during a religious procession in Tolosa, on the eastern island of Leyte. One of the strongest cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan left 8,000 people dead and missing and more than four million homeless after it hit the central Philippines.

Credit: Phillipe Lopez/Agence France-Presse

1st Prize Spot News Stories

Jan. 30, 2013, Damascus, Syria

Syrian rebel fighters take cover amid flying debris and shrapnel after being hit by a tank shell fired towards them by the Syrian Army in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus.

On Jan. 30, 2013, a Syrian rebel group planning an attack on government forces is hit by sniper fire in Damascus, Syria. After evacuating their comrade, who was shot in the chest and would later die from injuries, the rebels return to attack the checkpoint with rocket fire. Subsequently, government forces fired tank shells at the rebels. The rebels eventually retreated for the day to mourn the death of their comrade.

Credit: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

2nd Prize Spot News Stories

Nairobi, Kenya, Sept. 21, 2013,

A woman and children hiding in the Westgate mall. They escaped unharmed after gunmen had opened fire at the upscale Nairobi mall on 21 September 2013. At least 39 people were killed in one of the worst terrorist attacks in Kenya’s history.

Credit: Tyler Hicks/New York Times

3rd Prize Contemporary Issues Single

March 8, 2013, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

Police arrive at a crime scene where two bodies hang from a bridge; another three are on the floor. They had been killed by organized crime in Saltillo, Coahuila, in retaliation against other criminal groups. Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico.

Credit: Christopher Vanegas/El Guardían

1st Prize Contemporary Issues Stories

As the fight continued to rage, Shane told Maggie that she could choose between getting beaten in the kitchen, or going with him to the basement so they could talk privately, Lancaster, Nov. 17, 2012.

Credit: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz/TIME

1st Prize Daily Life Single

March 15, 2013, Burma

Kachin Independence Army fighters are drinking and celebrating at a funeral of one of their commanders who died the day before. The city is under siege by the Burmese army.

Credit: Julius Schrank/De Volkskran

1st Prize Daily Life Stories

Aug. 10, 2013, San Salvador, El Salvador

Date found: Feb. 1, 2013. Time 3:45 P.M. Location: a sugar plantation in Apopa, San Salvador, El Salvador. Sex: Female. Age: Between 17 and 18 years old. Time of disappearance: not available.

The North Central American Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) is one of the most violent regions in the world. In many cases, clothes that are found become the only means to identify victims.

Credit: Fred Ramos/El Faro

2nd Prize Sports Action Single

March 24, 2013, Szczyrk, Poland

Competitor at a slalom contest in Szczyrk, Poland.

Credit: Andrzej Grygiel/Polska Agencja Prasowa

3rd Prize Sports Action Stories

April 27, 2013, Adelaide, Australia

Daniel Arnamnart of Australia competes in the men's 100-meter backstroke during day two of the Australian Swimming Championships at SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide, Australia.

Credit: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

1st Prize Sports Feature Stories

Dec. 19, 2013, Lidingö, Sweden

Nadja feeling better just before her last treatment in Lidingö, Sweden.

Swedish athlete Nadja Casadei has participated in the World and European Championships in heptathlon. In autumn 2013, she was diagnosed with cancer and by January 2014 she completed her chemotherapy. She has continued to train throughout her illness, hoping to be healthy and ready by the summer for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Credit: Peter Holgersson

1st Prize People – Observed Portraits Single

Pretoria, South Africa, Dec. 13, 2013

A woman reacts in disappointment after access to see former South Africa President Nelson Mandela was closed on the third and final day of his casket lying in state, outside Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa.

Credit: Markus Schreiber/Associated Press

1st Prize People – Observed Portraits Stories

July 19, 2012, Merkenbrechts, Austria

Hannah and Alena, two sisters living in the rural village of Merkenbrechts, Austria.

Credit: Carla Kogelman

1st Prize People – Staged Portraits Single

Sept. 25, 2013, West Bengal, India

A group of blind albino boys photographed in their boarding room at the Vivekananda mission school for the blind in West Bengal, India. This is one of the very few schools for the blind in India today.

Credit: Brent Stirton/Reportage by Getty Images

2nd Prize People – Staged Portraits Stories

Feb. 3, 2011, Cairo, Egypt

Ali, a young Egyptian bodybuilder, poses with his mother.

Credit: Denis Dailleux/Agence Vu

3rd Prize Nature Stories

Jan. 25, 2011, Congo

A 5-year-old bonobo turns out to be the most curious individual of a wild group of bonobos near the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Despite being humans’ closest living relatives, little is known about Bonobos and their behavior in the wild in remote parts of the Congo basin. Bonobos are threatened by habitat loss and bush meat trade.

Credit: Christian Ziegler/National Geographic Magazine

1st Prize Nature Stories

March 2, 2013, Los Angeles, USA

A cougar walking a trail in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park is captured by a camera trap. To reach the park, which has been the cougar’s home for the last two years it had to cross two of the busiest highways in the US.

Cougars are among the most adaptable and widespread terrestrial mammals in the Western Hemisphere, with a range that extends from the tip of Chile to the Canadian Yukon. They are increasingly being seen in and around towns and cities, including Los Angeles and in the Hollywood Hills. Fear of these secretive cats, combined with a lack of adequate public knowledge, tends to justify the thousands of cougars killed every year. Scientists in Wyoming’s Teton National Forest are outfitting them with GPS collars and camera trapping to learn more about basic behaviors and to lift the veil of mystery surrounding them.